Milan Decree

(The). A decree made by Napoleon I., dated “Milan, Dec.
27, 1807,” declaring “the whole British Empire to be in a state of
blockade, and forbidding all countries either from trading with Great
Britain or from even using an article of British manufacture.”

This very absurd decree was killing the goose which laid the golden
eggs, for England was the best customer of the very countries thus
restricted from dealing with her.